Mechanical swimming device



May 5, 1925.

Z. TAMASSY MECHANICAL SWIMMING DEVICE Filed June 6, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 5, 1925. 1,536,316

z. TAMAssY v MCHANTCAL SWIMMING DEVI GE Filed June 6, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Eijk-f4 Patented May 5, 1925.

UNITED STATES ZOLTAN IAMASSY, F CLEVELAND, OHIO.

MECHANICAL SWIMMING DEVICE.

Application filed June 6,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ZoL'rAN TAMAssY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahogal and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in aMechanical Swimming Device, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in a mechanical swimming device, and my general object is to provide a buoyant support which is particularly constructed and adapted to permit a person to lie and 'fioat in a swimming position and also to propel himself through the water by crank and gear mechanism and a. screw propeller.

In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the invention showing a person operating the same in one of its positions of use. Fig. 2 is a side elevation with the air-chamber partly broken away and in section. Fig. 3 is a vertical section transversely of the device on line 3-3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a top view and Fig. 5 a bottom view of the device.

The invention comprises a buoyant body which is constructed in the present instance of a flat wooden board 2 having a hollow sheet metal `substructure 3 secured thereto at its bottom. Board 2 is rounded at its front end and tapers in width to smaller dimensions at its rear to permit a person to lie fiat upon the top of the board with his legs in a trailing and unobstructed position so that he may use them for steering or swimming. The hollow substructure 3 is also tap-ered but in greater degree, being wider at its front than at its rear, see Fig. 5, and it also has a sloping bottom which makes the rear end of the air compartment 4 therein deeper than the front end. The narrower but deeper rear portion of the hollow structure makes this part approximately as buoyant and stable as the wider front part when the person operating the device reelines upon it.

The propelling means comprises a power shaft 5 extending transversely beneath the wider front end of board 2 with a pair of crank handles 6-6 exposed at each side of 1924. Serial No. 718,224.

the board where the person lying on the board may grasp and rotate them. Shaft- 5 is journaled in brackets 7--7 secured to the bottom of the board and a large bevel gear 8 is fixed to the sha-ft and meshes with a smaller bevel gear 9 secured to the front end of a longitudinal propeller shaft 10 journaled at its front end in a cast metal bracket 11 an-d at its rear end in a depending bracket 12. A propeller 14 is fixed to shaft 10 rearwardly of the bracket, and the shaft is inclined horizontally to provide ample clearance for the propeller beneath the narrow end of board 2. A curved guard 15 is attached to board to enclose the propeller and protect the legs of the person reclining or sitting on the board. Bracket 1l also supports the power or crank shaft 5 and is fixed in a bracing position against the front wall of the air chamber or sub-structure 3. A vertical brace-member 16 may. also be used internally on the longitudinal medial line of the airchamber to brace the thin metal bottom thereof. Hollow sub-.structure 3 may be hermetically sealed, or it may be provided with a valved nipple 17 at one end to permit a temporary connection to be made with an air compressor or a vacuum pump. Compressed air may be used within the air chamber to resist the water pressure against the thin walls of the sub-structure when the device is submerged and carrying a load. The size or -dimensions of the device may vary from the showing, and a different stream line shape obtained, without departing materially from the present invention.

What I claim is:

A mechanical swimming device, comprising a flat board having a hollow sub-struc ture secure-d to its bottom, said board tapering to a narrow width at the rear end of said board, and said sub-structure having' a greater depth at the rear end of said substructure than at its front end, and crankoperated propeller mechanism mounted beneath said board.

In testimony whereof I aliiX my signature.

ZOLTAN TAMASSY. 

